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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: field · snap · scale · cold · last · hide · game · bass

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. The water is too ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. bass — low music
  3. bass — the fish
  4. game — wild animals
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. scale — in music
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. game — a match
  10. field — for sport
  11. field — a subject
  12. cold — an illness
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. last — finally
  15. field — farmland
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. scale — size or range
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. snap — to click
  23. last — final
  24. cold — not warm

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com